1200 BC–1570
Ancient and Medieval Period
Greek Cypriots trace the island's Hellenic roots to the 12th century BC with Mycenaean Greek settlement. Despite successive rulers, the Greek Orthodox population maintained its language and cultural identity across millennia.
Greek Cypriots trace the island's Hellenic roots to the 12th century BC with Mycenaean Greek settlement. Despite successive rulers (Romans, Byzantines, Crusaders, Venetians), the Greek Orthodox population maintained its language and cultural identity. When Ottomans arrived in 1571, they found an overwhelmingly Greek Orthodox Christian population with 1,500 years of continuous Hellenic tradition.